Refuse incinerator



Oct. 31, 1933. J. Q VINCENT l 1,932,759

REFUSE INGINERATOR Filed July 14, 1950 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 (we/W' Jay [af 'fil/27266722? od. 31, 1933. J, c.' VINCENT 1,932,759

REFUSE INCINERATOR Filed 9111314, 1939 s sheets-sheet4 2 Oct. 31, 1933. J. c. VINCENT 1,932,759

REFUSE INGINERATOR Filed July 14, 1930 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 ,Unirse STATES -PArsNr OFFICE 13 Claims.

'I'his invention relates to furnaces and pertains particularly to improvements in incinerators or destructors utilized for the disposal of garbage and other materials of low or diflicult combustibility.

A general object of the invention is the provision of an incinerator particularly qualied to expedite combustion of materials such as garbage and other materials having a largemoisture content, and which willalso have characteristics particularly qualifying it to withstand the pronounced destructive influences involved in the rapid consumption of such materials.

Yet another object is the provision of such an apparatus particularly qualied for efficient operation, not only on account of the rapidity with which it can dispose of such materials and its resistance to such destructive inuences, but also on account of its low requirements of fuel Vfor promoting or sustaining combustion of the material to be burned.

' Still another object is'the provision of such apparatus wherein replacements of injured or worn out portions may be made quickly and easily and at low expense for material, labor and outage time.

Another object is the provision of such apparatus particularly qualified to handle large charges of the material to be consumed, and thus minimize the amount of labor attendant on charging and the losses through temperature variations caused by the introduction of the cold material.

Other and further objects will be pointed out or indicated hereinafter or will be apparent to one skilled in the art upon an understanding of the invention or its employment in practice.

For the purpose of example I show in the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, and describe hereinafter, one form of apparatus representing an embodiment of the invention, but it is to be understood that this is presented merely for purpose of illustration, and is not to be construed inany fashion calculated to limit the appended claims short of the true and most comprehensive scope of the .invention in the art.

n said drawings, Fig. l is a sectional elevation of an incinerator furnace taken from frontto rear;

Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional elevation on substantially line 2--2 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 3 is a part horizontal section taken on substantially line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

The disposal ofl garbage and other refuse pre sente a dilcult and growing municipal problem. Destruction of the material by burning appears to be most desirable from the standpoints of convenience and sanitation. The burning' of garbage and other refuse is quite dimcult, howa. ever, on account of its miscellaneous character, its low combustibility, and the very high percentage of moisture which it contains. For considerations of sanitation, the destruction plant must have -a capacity such as to handle each days collections within a period of a day, in order that there may be no accumulations. Com bustion must be complete in order to avoid obnoxious residue in the ash and offensive odors from the stack and to reduce the solidfresidue to 7o the smallest possible amount. All of these con-I siderations emphasize the importance and need for high capacity per unit and rapid combustion. In order to maintain the proper rate of disposal, and to avoid the cost of an emergency'or stand- 7| by unit, it is of great importance that the furnaces possess maximum durability and that they be susceptible of repair in minimumtime.

Garbage incinerators are subjected to unusual- 1y severe vdestructive influences. The garbage is 50 almost invariably quite wet, and in cold weather is usually received at the plant in a more or less frozen condition. The periodic charging of the hot furnace with such material subjects the portions with which the material contacts to sudden 3| temperature changes and other effects which tend to produce rapid disintegration.

The present invention provides an installation which lgreatly expedites the burning of the garbage and which in large measure eliminates or 9o -avoids destructive effects usually encounteredl in such apparatus. This is accomplished by construction of the furnace in such fashion that the heat generated is effectively employed for drying, igniting and maintaining combustion -of un 95 burned material, part of said heat being extracted from wall portions of the furnace, said Wall portions thereby being safeguarded against the destructive eifects of extreme thermal changes, and other portions of the heat being employed by ra- 1N f diation from Wall and arch portions which are not subjected to extreme thermal changes and which consequently may be maintained at a high temperature. The structure thus involves certain characteristics of air-cooled wall construction 1N and certain cooperative relationships of cooled and `ilncooled wall and arch portions, as well-as certain ,relationships of s aii portions with the grate or burning platform and air supplying and directing features. 1l.

The nature of the invention will be understood most quickly by reference to the illustrative embodiments shown. In the drawings, the reference numeral designates column portions of the building structure in which the furnace is housed, and on which columns is supported the charging floor 1l above the furnace. The furnace chamber proper is formed of refractory walls and roof structure, comprising a transverse front wall 12, transverse rear wall 14, side walls 15, and roof arches 16. The furnace chamber is crossed, at its rearward portion, by a high transverse bridge wall 17, from which a grate structure 18 extends forwardly in a downwardly sloping direction toward the front wall, 'and terminates at a dumping section 19, said grate and dumping section being disposed above the ash pit 20. The flue outlet 21 to the stack communicates through the rear wall at a low point behind the bridge wall. The bridge wall subdivides the furnace chamber into a charging chamber, which is in front of said wall and over the grate, and a gas combustion chamber to the rear of the bridge wall. These chambers are covered by the roof arch or arches 16, which at the forward portion .of the charging chamber take a downwardly and forwardly sloping form as clearly seen in Fig. 1". The arches are provided with charging openings, as at^22, to which openings lead chutes 24 from the dumping funnels or hoppers 25 which open above the lcharging floor 11 in a position such that the-garbage conveniently may be dumped into it as from trucks standingon said floor. Except at charging times, the chutes'are kept closed by automaticaly closing doors 25.

The front wall 12 may be built of solid masonry construction, or maybe structurally supported, the interior portion being of suitable refractory material, such as re brick, and the outer portion of an effective insulating material, such as ordinary brick, and said wall is provided with staking doors 121. The bridge wall is builtof appropriate refractory material and may be of solid construction for the most part, but provided in its base with air tunnels 1'7a which open by appropriate outlets 17b to the space below the grate 18.

As seen in Figs. 2 and 3the side and rear walls are of' hollow construction. They are carried on an external structural frame comprising columns 25 arranged atintervals along said walls and suitably anchored at their lower ends and tied together at their upper ends by horizontal members 26. On these columns are carried horizontally extending hanger supporting members 27, and upon these latter are supported the wall section hangers 28, the hangers thus being supported in horizontally running rows or series and staggered in their vertical relationship. Each hanger has a shelf portion 28n adjacent the bottom, andV a vertical bar or body portion extending upward- 1y therefrom and provided along its inner margin with laterally directed flanges 28h. Tiers of .refractories 29 are supported on lthe hangers, resting on the shelf portions and anchored to the hangers by means of T-shaped-slots at\their.outer ends, which fit on `and engage the flanges 28h, the refractories being thereby' retained against shifting 011' of the hangers. 'Ihus each horizontal series of hangers supports a wall section, ,which sections togetherform the refractory walls for the sides and rear of the furnace chamber. Where fthese-vertically `associated sections meet, small :Il ,joint refractories 29., which are 4horizontally withdrawable from the wall, are arranged on the top of each section, said joint refractories being spaced somewhat from the superjacent section to allow for an expansion joint between the sections, which joint is filled with compressible refractory material 30. The lowermost refractories of each section are preferably arranged for a limited vertical overlap with the joint refractories, so as to form a vertically slidable sealing contact across the expansion joint.

By this arrangement, it will be observed, the side and rear walls are subdivided into a series of independently supported sections arranged one above another in such fashion as to form a continuous wall, there being provision for accommodation of the total vertical expansion of each section without subjecting sections above or below it to the expansion pressures, and the refractories being withdrawable from and replaceable in respective sections without involving the removal or displacement of refractories from any other section. Due to the staggered relationship of the hangers in respective sections, the refractories in each wall section occupy a staggered or brokenjoint relationship with those in the sections next above and below it.

The supporting arms of the hangers extend outwardly a substantial distance beyond the outer ends of the refractories, so that the latter are held spaced a substantial distance from the structural members. A sheathing wall is provided, as by plates 31, which are demountably connected to the columns 25 or the frame members 27, said sheathing wall being-thus spaced a substantial distance from the wall refractories, to afford an intervening air space. This-air space is bounded on its inner side by the outer faces of the refractories 29 and 29, and the supporting arms and outer margins of the body portions of the hangers project into this air space. The air space is closed at the top and bottom, and theair space of the rear wall is in communication with the air spaces -V01' the twoside walls, as seen in Fig. 3,-so that the air space is continuous about the side and rear walls. The air space is designated by the referf ence character 32. An air conduit 3ft-34a has communication with this air space through openings 35 in the sheathing wall at the rear of the furnace chamber, and through said conduit air is supplied to the air space in the wall by means of a suitable blower 36, the volume and pressure of the feed being susceptible of control as by variation of the lspeed of the blower or by control dampers 36, This air, entering the openings 35, passes laterally through the air space of the rear wall into the air spaces of the side walls, and forv wardly through the latter air spaces in a generally downward direction as indicated by the arrows `in Fig. 1-, some of it passing to the air tunnel 17B of the bridge wall, and some of it passing 135 through the inlet openings 37 into the furnace chamber below the grate.

When the furnace is started from a completely cold condition (which will occur only after a complete shutdown) a re is flrst built o'n the grate with suitable combustible material and maintained until the furnace is suitably heated up. Then a charge of garbage is placed in the furnace through the chutes 24, and a. limited amount of readilyy combustible fuel is placed on tha-pile of garbage, through the stoking doors 12, and ignited. The air fed into the air space inthe rear and side walls is heated in the course\of its passage therethrough, and is discharged into the furnace chamber below the grate, and passes up 150 through the pile of garbage under the force of the draft. By appropriate speed or damper adjustment the blower operation is so regulated that a condition of balance draft, or slight' negative pressure, is maintained in the furnace chamber, the pressure of the blower being just sufficient to overcome the draft loss through the air space and fuel bed. This heated air which passes through the fuel bed expedites the drying of the garbage and supplies the oxygen necessary for combustion. Heat is radiated directly onto the pile o ,f garbage from the front wall and the front arch with the effect of promoting drying and maintaining combustion. The effect on the garbage is to release combustible gases, which being mixed with the.

air, pass upwardly and rearwardly over the bridge wall to areas of higher temperature in proximity to the rear wall, where the combustible gases are burned. As the pile of garbage is gradually consumed, the ash is discharged into the ash pit through the dumping grate 19 and through the grate 18 which is of an appropriate design permitting shaking, as by means of the shakers 38. Due to the cumulative effect of the heating and drying, the burning down of the pile of garbage proceeds at a progressively increasing rate. From time to time the furnace is recharged' with fresh loads of garbage, the surface line of the pile being indicated approximately by the 'dotted line 39. The pile is not permitted to burn lcompletely down before recharging, but enough is left to retain an actively burning bed, the surface of which is indicated generally by the dotted line 40. It will be observed that the surface of the pile is presented in a position where it is subjected to the radiant heat from the front arch ,portion and the front wall. These portions, as pointed out above, are

of such nature that they tend to retain the heat andv remain in a highly heated condition, so that they constitute highly effective radiating surfaces. The same is true, but to a somewhat less extent, of the upper front portions of the side` walls. The portions of the `side walls which are subjected to contact with the charges of garbage, however, are maintained at a much lower temperature by the cooling effect of the airowing over their external surfaces, the maximum ow of this cooling air being across such portions of the side walls, as indicated generally by the arrows in Fig. 1. The

portions of the side and rear walls above and to the rear of the bridge wall are areas subjected to the highest temperature in the furnace, due totheir proximity to burning gases. These wall portions accordingly absorb a quantity of heat, and some of this heat is transmitted through the refractories to the air in the air spaces for the purpose of heatingv it to a temperature whereat it will be effective to expedite the drying of the garbage as it passes upwardly through the pile after being introduced below the grates throughV the openingsV 3.7b and 37. It will be observed that these relatively highly heated air-cooled wall portions are in locations where they meet the coldest air, soon after its introduction into the air spaces.

' Since a slight negative pressure is maintained by the draft in the furnace chamber, and the airl is supplied at a pressure sufficient simply to overcome the resistance encountered in its passage throughthe air spaces and ducts' and fuel bed, a

condition is maintained which definitely prevents the escape of fumes through the furnace walls. As the bed burns down, the air feed from the blower may be correspondingly reduced so as to maintain the proper relationship between the pressure in the air space and that within the furnace chamber.

Experience has demonstrated that incinerators constructed as above described operate with considerably increased capacity per day, with considerably slower deterioration, and require very much less additional fuel, as compared with incinerators of somewhat similar form having solid side and rear walls. These advantages result fromvthe combination and interaction of the effects obtained through the arrangement and organization of the present structure. By passing the preheated air through the pile of material, combustion is greatly expedited, with the result that a sufdciently high temperature may be maintained in the fuel compartment tovmaintain the front Wall and arch portions at a sufdciently high temperature to expedite combustion on and in the pile. In the absence of the cooling arrangements for the side walls provided by the present invention, this higher temperature in the fuel chamber would tend to increase the rate of deterioration of the side walls in those areas where they are subjected to contact with the fresh chargings of the cold and wet material; The deterioration of those portions of the side walls is in large'measure prevented bythe nature of the construction of those Walls and by the provisions .for limiting their temperature. The side wall construction is such as to give it great internal flexibility, allowing the respective refractories to expand and contract without sub- -jecting them and adjacent refractories to deof the refractories as a result of thermal changes.

Moreover, the external cooling effect on the reA fractories decreases the degree of temperature d rop to' which they are subjected at the times of charging, as it prevents their being heated to such a high temperature during thetimes when the burning pile is low and combustion most active. It will be observed that this external cooling effect is most pronounced on the areas of the side walls whichl are subjected to contact with the fresh charges, so that those areas of the walls may be maintained at a substantially lower temperature than the upper and forward portions ofthe side walls. Consequently, the ra diant eect of these upper and forward portions of the side walls may be utilized to advantage, without the very substantial difference in tem.- perature as between the different wall areas resulting in increased rate of deterioration. The construction of the air-cooled wall portions is such as to promote the extraction of heat from observed, have portions seated in the refractories and portions extending into the air space. This feature makes for the rapid extraction of heat from the refractories, the diffusion or carrying away of said heat from the Wall depending in large measure on the rate of flow of the cooling air through the air passages. By the arrangement of the structure in such fashion that this regulated flow is most rapid over the areas subjected to contact with the material to be burned, the rate of heat extraction from said areas may be made considerably more rapid than the diffusionv of heat from other areas where such pronounced cooling effects are not desired.

lai)

-them by the cooling air. 'I'he hangers, it will be Of course, with the periodic chargings, the temperature throughout the furnace is considerably reduced and the quantity and combustion of gases in the upper and rearward portions of the furnace chamber likewise reduced., Due to the wall construction in these latter areas, however, such sudden reductions in temperature are prevented from exercising severe disintegrating inuences on the refractories, on account of the flexible nature of the wall structure and the sectionaldistribution of its weight.

Accordingly, it will be observed that there is a very pronounced and effective interaction and cooperative effect between the various parts and features of the structure, resulting in the desired attainment of rapid and complete combustion with minimum additional fuel and very substantial reduction in the rate of wear or disintegration of the wall refractories. Supplying of air under regulated pressure, as by means of a blower, increases the operating capacity of the furnace, but it will operate at very high efliciency under natural draft. Accordingly, suitable -damper doors 34b may be provided to afford an air inlet to the air duct 34-341, the air so admitted being drawn by the natural draft of the furnace through the wall air spaces and into the furnace below the grate and through thepile of material thereon. It has been found that operation under natural draft reduces somewhat the amount of additional fuel required per ton of refuse burned.

Particularly in installations in which the furnace chamber is of quite large volume, eiciency' is increased by the provision of a supplementaly bridge or baille wall portion as indicated at 17, arranged across amedial portion, of the Yfurnace chamber and extending upwardly from the bridge wall to a level adjacent the roof arch. The general contour of such arrangement is indicated by the dotted lines B and B in Fig. 2, B indicating the level of the bridge wall and B indicating the position of the supplementary bridge or bafiie. By this arrangement the gases are given longer travel, and are directed into intimate contact with the heated wall portionsy above and to the rear of the bridge wall, as well as the roof or arch and bridge wall surfaces, so that the radiant effect of these heated surfaces is availed of to an increased degree in obtaining thorough combustion of these gases. This resultsin an increased temperature Iin the furnace, giving greater capacity and further decreasing the requirements for additional fuel. It also serves to increase the radiant effects from the front wall and arch portions.

What I claim is: v

1. A refuse incinerator comprising a furnace chamber having refractory front and side walls and roof housing a perforate fuel platform and a charging opening disposed above the fuel p1at. form in such relationship that fuel fed therethrough will deposit on the fuel platform in a pileA inclined toward the front wall, said front wall and roof being constructed to present effective heat confining and radiating surfaces toward 'the' A fuel pile, sheathing associated with said sidewalls to 'form an intervening air chamber for guiding ow of cooling air along and in contact with outer surfaces ofthe refractory side walls, said air chamber having outlet conununication with the furnace chamber below the fuel platform.

2. An incinerator structure as specified in claim 1 and including also a, bridge wall in the furnace chamber disposed to form a rearward support for the fuel pile, said bridge wall being provided with a duct communicating with said air space and leading into the furnace chamber below the fuel platform.

3. An incinerator structure as specified in claim 1 and including a bridge wall in the furnace chamber disposed to form a rearward support forthe fuel pile, a rear wall spaced rearwardly lfrom the bridge wall, and sheathing associated with said rear wall to form an intervening air space for directing flow of air over the external surfaces thereof, said sheathing being provided with an air inlet behind the rear wall and said air space communicating with the side wall air space.

4. An incinerator comprising a furnace chamber having side and rear walls formed of refrac 'tories and having portions spaced from the refractories to afford air chambers extending collaterally of the outer surfaces of said refractories, a fuel platform in the forward portion of the furnace chamber, said furnace chamber being provided with a charging opening disposed so that fuel fed therethrough will deposit on the fuel platform in a pile having an inclined surface, a transverse wall and roof portion for the furnace chamber disposed to radiate heat onto the inclined surface of the fuel pile, said air chambers having an air inlet and being provided with air outlets leading -into the furnace chamber below the fuel platform.

5. An incinerator structure as specified claim 4. and including a flue opening leading from said furnace chamber adjacent the rear wall.

6. An incinerator structure as specified in claim 4 and including a bridge wall in the furnace ll@ chamber spaced from the rear wall and disposed to form a rear retaining wall for the fuel pile.

7. An incinerator structure comprising a furnace chamber having refractory front, side and rear walls, a fuel platform in the forward por- 118 tion of said chamber, a fuel opening from the rear portion of said chamber, a bridge wall disposed adjacent therrearward margin of the fuel platform and spaced from the rear wall, said chamber having a refractory roof affording -a charging 129 opening over the fuel platform in proximity to the bridge wall, a sheathing wall extending collaterally of portions of the rear and side walls and spaced therefrom to afford an intervening air space, said side walls being provided with outlets from said air space into the furnace chamber below the fuel platform, and the sheathing wall affording an air inlet into said air space behind the rear wall.

8. An incinerator structure as specified in claim 7 and wherein the flue opening is disposed behind the bridge wall and adjacent the lower limit of the furnace chamber.

9. An incinerator comprising a furnace chamber having a'heat confining and radiating front l wall and sectionally supported refractory side and rear walls provided with collaterally ex, tending air ducts, a. fuel platform in said furnace chamber, a refractory roof for said furnace chamber provided with a charging opening disposed to discharge fuel on the fuel platform in a pile spaced from the front wall and in contact with the side walls, metallic members extending partly into the refractory side walls and 14| partly into the air ducts, said side walls provided with openings aording communication between theair ducts and the furnace chamber below the fuel platform, said a'ir ducts being provided with air inlets spaced from said'openings, and

means for controlling the feed of air into said air inlets.

10. A refuse incinerator comprising a transverse front wall and a transverse bridge wall spaced apart, a fuel platform between said walls, refractory side walls provided externally with air chambers along their outer surfaces, a refractory roof affording a charging opening above the fuel platform and adjacent one of said transverse walls, said air chambersbeing provided with outlets into the furnace chamber below the fuel platform, a rear wall provided with an air chamber communicating with the air chambers of the side walls, and means for supplying air to thev air chamber of the rear wall for passage therefrom forwardly through the air chambers of the side walls to said outlets.

11. A refuse incinerator comprising a furnace chamber having a refractory roof, a grate for supporting a pile of fuel below said roof, a transverse wall and refractory side walls arranged to form retaining walls for the fuel pile, a second transverse wall arranged to radiate heat onto the fuel pile, sheathing' associated with the refractory side walls to form air chambers covering the major portion ,of the outer surfaces of said refractory side walls, said air chambers be- Patent No. l, 9,32, 759.

it is hereby certified that error appears in the printed specificatoncf the l above numbered patent requiring correction las follows:

ing provided with an air inlet and with an air outlet for conducting air from said air chambers into the furnace chamber below the grate.

12. A refuse incinerat'or as specified in claim 4 and includinga bridge wall in the furnace chamber disposed to form a rearward support for the fuel pile, a ue outlet from the furnace chamber behind the bridge wall and a baie wall extending upwardly from the bridge wall in the medial portion of the furnace chamber.

13. In a refuse incinerator, in combination, an inclined grate, a transverse wall extending upwardly from adjacent the higher side of the grate, a second transverse wall extending upwardly from 'adjacent the lower side of the grate, refractory side walls cooperating with said transverse walls to form a charging chamber, a roof over said charging chamber, said roof affording a charging opening over the higher side of the grate, and parts associated with said refractory side Walls to form air passages arranged to guide air along andjn contact with their outer surfaces for purpose of cooling them, said air passages being provided with air inlets and with air outlets into the charging chamber below the grate. Y

- JAY CARTER VINCENT.

CERTIFICATE or coniuzcrlon.v

Page 4, line 116. claim 7,'for "fuel" read4 flue; and that thev nid Letters Patent should be read with this correction therein that the same may conform to the record of the case in the Patent Office.. v

signed and mnd uns 9th da; of January, A. D. 1934.

i (sul) F. M. Hopkins Acting Commissioner of Patents.

October 31, 1933.4 

